While we waited at the Bangkok airport to check in for our flight we noticed that we were the only people who didn't have at least two flat screen TVs with us.
After 48 hours of not sleeping due to an overnight bus ride on Friday and 1am flight on Sunday we finally arrived in Kathmandu! Getting out of the airport we bargained for a taxi and eventually found one that wasn't trying to take too much advantage of us. On the ride to our hostel we hit a woman with our car. We just tapped her lightly and the driver didn't even stop or say anything. My friends and I just sat there in shock staring out the windows at the dusty dirt roads full of people, pollution, animals, and taxis. An entirely different world from Bangkok!
The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Pokhara, a smaller town about 8 hours from Kathmandu. The ride was full of honking horns, crazy mountain roads, and amazing views.
We spent that afternoon/night wandering around Pokhara, enjoying the peace and quiet after Kathmandu, and eating lots of vegetarian momo which might just be my new favorite food. The area was beautiful, colorful, and full of awesome things to buy.
We then finished the afternoon with some delicious Himalayan Tea.
The next day we visited a waterfall and a Tibetan Refugee Camp.
We also got to see some pretty spectacular views of the Annapurna Mountains from our hotel.
The next day we got up and headed out for a 3 day rafting trip on the Kali Gandaki River. We ended up signing up with a company that caters to Israeli people. We realized this when out of 20 people only 5 of us didn't speak Hebrew. It was really awesome to meet so many people from Israel and hear about their experiences, talk politics, and talk about Peace Corps and life in Thailand all while enjoying the amazing scenery in Nepal. The three days of rafting were full of awesome Nepali food, star gazing, swimming, flipping the raft, camping on white sand beaches and Nepali dancing and music next to a bonfire. Those three days were by far my favorite part of the trip.
After rafting we spent a bit more time in Pokhara enjoying the sites then headed back to Kathmandu. We spent a few days visiting temples, ancient cities, shopping, eating even more Momo, and enjoying being able to speak English to everyone we met.
The street our hotel was on.
Durbar Square
Freak Street
Eating some Dal Bhat, traditional Nepalese food.
Durbar Square
Fresh King Curd
Boudha Stupa
Our second to last day in Nepal we took a Mountain Flight to see Mount Everest. We got to the airport before 6am, eager to board our plane. The flight took off at 6:30am and I think we were all a bit nervous being on such a tiny plane so close to the mountains. After the first glimpse of the Himalayas in the distance all nervousness vanished and I couldn't peel my eyes away. It felt like we were right on top of Everest. On the way back and I even got to go into the cockpit and talk to the pilots as they told me the names of the different mountains we were passing. It was incredible.
In the afternoon on our last day I went to the store next to our hotel to refill my water bottle and started talking to the guy who owned the store. He invited me to sit down for a cup of tea. After about 30 minutes he asked me if I would stay in his store for about 20 minutes while he went to run an errand. I had nothing to do so I agreed to help him out. After he showed me where he kept his money and explained the prices of water, candy bars, and some of his better selling items he left and I was in charge! Fortunately people only bought water and candy so I was all set, although it took me a while to figure out the Nepali coins to give change. After he came back he gave me some more tea and we chatted about his family, his home, and life in Nepal. Quite the way to end the trip!
I've been back in Thailand for about 2 weeks now and just returned from a little unplanned vacation to Chiang Mai for some medical appointments. Now life is slowly returning to normal and I'm getting back to work on new projects. It helps coming back from vacation and having this as my backyard...
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